Protesters in Chicago call on Kamala Harris to change Gaza policy

As US Democratic Party leaders prepare to cement the election of Kamala Harris as their presidential candidate in Chicago, thousands of people took to the streets of the city on Monday to ask the vice president for a change in the country’s policy towards the conflict in Gaza.

The protest, called by a coalition of more than 200 organizations from across the United States, Activists and voters alike attended, expressing disillusionment with the Biden administration’s handling of the Middle East conflict and hoping to generate enough pressure to force Harris out. to limit or withdraw its support for Israel.

For some, this issue is so important that it will define their vote on November 5 in a tight election where Harris leads former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump (2017-2021). by just three percentage points at the national levelaccording to a survey published this Sunday by CBS News.

“Now that Biden is out, I hope Harris can change her mind and propose something better than genocide,” Issa, a Palestinian born in Ramallah and a US citizen who has lived in Chicago for more than 40 years, told EFE.

Wearing a kufiya around his neck, the 74-year-old man said he decided to join the protest because he believes it is important to “continue to pressure” his country’s political leaders to listen to the voices of voters, and especially those of Palestinians.

“I feel like the whole world is against us. It hurts to see what they are doing in my country, with my taxes. They treat us like we are animals,” she insisted.

The Democrats presented their electoral program for the next four years on Monday, which reiterates the party’s traditional position of supporting Israel, while supporting “an immediate and lasting ceasefire agreement” for the Gaza Strip. to allow the release of Israeli hostages and address the “displacement and death of so many innocent people” in the Palestinian enclave.

The document will be put to a vote by the party’s delegates in the evening, and so far only 30 of the 4,000 have openly expressed their dissatisfaction with the party’s policy towards Israel.

Decoration Kills Miian, who is part of the organizations in charge of this Monday’s demonstrationsaid that such “inflexibility” in addressing the conflict in Gaza was to be expected.

“Democrats have proven to be a pro-war party and act in the interests of their donors with power and money, leaving the working class behind,” he said.

“If they lose, it’s their fault”

Harris has yet to make her position on the conflict explicit, but in her political career she has supported the pro-Israel lobby in Washington and at a recent campaign event in Michigan she silenced pro-Palestinian protesters by telling them: “If you want Trump to win, say so.”

Activists reject this accusation: if the Democrats lose in November, Aboma said, it will not be because of criticism or protests, but because of the policies promoted by the Biden administration.

“It is not our fault for protesting against a genocide, but theirs for supporting it,” he stressed.

The Gaza conflict has become a political issue for Democrats, especially among young people: 45 percent of voters under 30 reject the current administration’s handling of the war, according to a Siena College/New York Times poll.

The pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses earlier this year spread across the country reflected this sentiment and in some states materialized in high abstention during the primary process.

Misha, a 20-year-old who traveled from Ohio for the Chicago protest, will be voting for the first time in this election and, for now, does not know who to vote for.

“It’s literally a debate I have with myself every day,” said the university student, holding up a sign with the Palestinian flag. “I wonder if there aren’t any other options and I don’t understand how these can be our candidates.”